SBD Dauntless Units of World War 2
By (Author) Barrett Tillman
Illustrated by Tom Tullis
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Osprey Publishing
27th November 1998
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
Military vehicles
History of engineering and technology
Aircraft and aviation
History of the Americas
Second World War
Modern warfare
623.7463
Paperback
98
Width 184mm, Height 248mm, Spine 7mm
366g
Unquestionably the most successful dive-bomber ever to see frontline service with any air arm, the Douglas SBD Dauntless was the scourge of the Japanese Imperial Fleet in the crucial years of the Pacific War. The revolutionary all-metal stressed-skin design of the SBD exhibited airframe strength that made it an ideal dive-bomber, its broad wing, with horizontal centre section and sharply tapered outer panels with dihedral, boasting perforated split flaps that doubled as dive brakes during the steep bombing attacks
"The impact of the battles the Dauntless participated is hard to calculate, but author Tillman brings forth many interesting facts, in particular that the statistic that the few SBD crews that served in the Pacific at the start of the war, patrolling the largest geographical area of any air unit in the world. Arguably, they had the greatest impact on their theater of war, participating in so many turning point battles, and flying to victory. For anyone interested in the history of the Dauntless and its crews, this book will have much to offer, for first time readers, and seasoned historians alike." -"www.pacificwrecks.com"
Barrett Tillman is the world's most prolific US naval aviation author, having published over two-dozen titles on the World War 2 period alone. He has written numerous books for Osprey in recent years, and he is currently working on several future projects too. TomTullis has illustrated a number of books in both the Aces and Combat Aircraft series. He was the first artist to produce material for Osprey Aviation electronically. Tom's most recent work can be found in Aces 26 and Combat Aircraft 16 and 20